Robin Roberts jokes about move away from GMA with co-host — and you won't believe where

Robin Roberts knows how to spot a joke when she sees one, and she fully leaned into riffing off the latest celebrity guest on Good Morning America .

The longtime ABC News anchor, 63, and her co-hosts Gio Benitez, George Stephanopoulos , and Lara Spencer played host to Shaquille O'Neal on Wednesday, July 17.

The basketball legend was out promoting his new game show Lucky 13 and spoke to the hosts about the idea behind the quiz show, which asks contestants to answer 13 True or False questions for a chance at $1 million.

Shaq, 52, hosts the new series with actress Gina Rodriguez , and gushed about her to the anchors, saying: "She is so funny, she is so talented. I remember when they were asking me who I'd like to do the show with, and she was the first person I picked."

"She's very quick, very beautiful, and awesome," he added, before turning the attention to the other women in the room, Robin and Lara, and quipping: "Reminds me of you two young ladies."

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The answer got a chuckle out of George, and Robin just kept going with the bit, responding: "I was 'bout to say, I'm sorry we were not available, I'm sorry. But I'm glad Gina was there for you." Lara hit back: "We're your backups."

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The interview with the court legend turned sports analyst was a bucket of laughs from the very jump, including when he dropped by on set earlier to wheel out a large skeleton dog as part of a Halloween shopping segment (one he'd named "Barkley" after fellow player Charles Barkley).

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At the top of the interview, when the camera cut back to the studio, George told viewers: "I've just gotta say, I cannot tell you how much I wish we could've had a camera on Shaq during the commercial break! That'd have been better than anything else you've seen on this show, and it is a great show!" Lara also added: "You really made Pop News today special, thank you!"

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During the interview, Robin praised Shaq for uplifting and championing the many new stars of the WNBA and other women in basketball for their banner year in the sport, including the likes of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.

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Shaq responded: "Well, the crazy thing is, we've always experienced [women's success in basketball]. It's just that they weren't getting a lot of coverage. But now because of social media and TV, they're getting a lot of coverage."

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While also pointing to Robin's exemplary record on the court, the former LA Lakers star stated that he believed women played better and fundamentally harder and emphasized that he wanted to praise them appropriately.

"I actually think the girls play the game a little bit harder and a little bit better than the guys," he opined, and also expressed his admiration for Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces before jokingly mouthing "I love you" to her on camera, setting off the anchors once again.